Two Against The World
by Quicksilvermad
Summary: It finally got to be too much for him to handle—being surrounded by so many self-absorbed people.


_**Warnings:**_ AU to deal with the mid-season hiatus, post "Secrets," character death, fairly dark.  
><em><strong>Disclaimer:<strong>_ All rights for _The Walking Dead_ go to Robert Kirkman and AMC

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><p><strong>Chapter 1: Heading Out<strong>

Daryl was leaving.

Maggie Greene saw the look in his eyes yesterday, took him out to the stables, and told him to take Nellie if he was going to leave. The horse was still on his shit list for spooking over that damned snake, but he'd trained more ornery creatures before. He could easily break her of the habits she had once he had enough time. If he thought about it, Hershel _owed_ him the horse for all the meat he brought in while the group crashed in the front yard. Not to mention the whole "keeping walkers in the barn" thing.

He whittled down his possessions to only the things he absolutely needed and was left with thirteen items besides his crossbow and hunting knife, one of the machetes Carl found on the highway, and the book Andrea gave him (not that he _needed _the book). All of his things fit in a saddlebag and an old military issue duffle bag. His bedroll fit snug behind the saddle.

Daryl left everything else in his tent.

It finally got to be too much for him to handle—being surrounded by so many self-absorbed people.

The situation surrounding Sophia and Carol was worse.

Sophia's death had been extremely painful for Carol and not at all easy for Daryl to deal with, either. He'd spent a huge amount of his emotional, mental, and physical strength looking for the little girl. And she'd been in that damned barn for who knows how long. He swore they told Hershel and Patricia what Sophia looked like and what she was wearing. At this point, Daryl didn't want to bother with asking anyone to clear that whole mess up. Because, really, he felt a little numb to it all.

Up until the previous day.

Six mornings after Rick put an end to the little girl's suffering, Daryl found Carol in the pasture facing the woods he'd marched out of when Andrea shot him. Carol had taken Shane's pistol and shot herself in the head.

It was Shane's reaction to this—and Rick's apathy to the situation—that had Daryl reaching for his essentials and taking charity from Maggie Greene. He couldn't be around these people anymore.

_"One less mouth to feed."_

Daryl hadn't been able to see his own face when the other man said that, but he had an idea that it looked exactly like Maggie's. Appalled. Hurt. Just plain pissed off. Andrea walked up to them a minute later and Daryl hadn't moved. She'd wrapped her fingers around his and started crying against the bared skin of his shoulder. Out of all of them, she, Dale, and Daryl were the closest to Carol. The three of them buried her next to Sophia's body beneath the Cherokee roses Daryl found blooming by the small lake on Hershel's property.

In the predawn light, Daryl quietly tacked up Nellie and wrote Maggie a note of thanks, wishing her luck with Glenn and on the rest of her journey. He was grasping the saddle horn, getting ready to lift himself into the stirrup, when he heard a familiar gasp.

"You're leaving?"

Andrea stood at the far end of the stables with her satchel slung over one shoulder and that goofy straw cowboy hat tipped crooked on her head. There was a look of horror on her face that made Daryl avoid her widened pale green eyes. The pair of them stood motionless for the span of five heartbeats.

Jaw set, Andrea walked swiftly to stand right in front of him and looked ready to slap him. He'd seen that face so much on others in his life and, on her, it scared him more than any walker could. Daryl flinched and instinctively brought his arm up to ward off any attack. Seeing this, her anger fled as fast as it had grown and she burst into tears.

"You… You were just going to leave? Without saying anything?" she asked.

Daryl relaxed his arms but still could not look at her eyes. "I can't be around these people no more," he said hoarsely. Andrea took one step closer to him and carefully reached out to cup his face in her hands. She dipped her head to find his eye line.

"Daryl, look at me."

He closed his eyes and worked up the strength to do as she asked. Her face was pinched and her chin was trembling. When he spoke, his voice was low and broken.

"Don't you ask me to stay. Not after…"

Daryl watched a fat tear roll down her cheek against the crease of her mouth and he idly wiped it away with his thumb. After he touched her, he couldn't remove his hand and ended up mirroring her hold on his face. His fingers curved against her hairline and her jaw fit perfectly in his hands.

Her voice was surprisingly steady. "I wasn't going to ask you to stay, I was going to ask to go with you."

Daryl felt like he couldn't swallow around the lump that formed in his throat. She must have seen the acceptance in his eyes, because the sad downturn of her lips moved up briefly.

On impulse, she dragged his face even closer to hers and she kissed him.

It was just a press of her lips against his. It wasn't the hottest kiss she'd ever given, but it was a kiss that meant the most to her. She eased back from him and felt her heart stutter when Daryl's hands tightened slightly and he pulled her close again.

He parted her mouth with his and gently sucked on her lower lip in a slow, drowsy kiss that started making her toes curl in her shoes. Her fingers slid through his hair and she couldn't hold back the whining noise that escaped when he tilted her head to the right and knocked her hat off with the back of his hand.

Daryl must have eaten a peach on the way to the stables because Andrea could taste the juice on his tongue. He didn't just kiss with his mouth. She could feel all of him trying to touch and taste her, and she shuddered when the tips of his fingers slid along her waist. He pulled her body against his and breathed with her until the dwindling oxygen made her dizzy.

Andrea leaned back against the arm he had banded across her back and slowly lifted her eyelids to stare at him. Daryl looked just as affected as her and he licked his lower lip.

"Got yer stuff?" he asked, voice still pitched low in a whisper.

Andrea could only nod.

"Get up on the horse, darlin'."

She shivered at the loss of warmth when he let go of her and tried to distract herself from the lingering sensation of his body. Picking her hat up off the ground, Andrea focused on the horse. "Isn't this the same one that threw you?" she asked.

"Yup."

"Are we stealing her?" Andrea asked as she settled on Nellie's back.

"Nope. Glenn's gal told me ta take 'er when I left," Daryl answered and easily swung his right leg over the saddle. He hooked his feet in the stirrups and pulled Andrea into a more comfortable position halfway on his lap. "Grab a'hold of her mane."

Andrea did as he told her. "Do you have a destination in mind, or are we just going to wander?" she asked.

Daryl clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth and tucked his heels into Nellie's sides to get her moving. "Thinkin' on the Rockies," he said.

"That's awfully far."

Daryl snorted as they cleared the stables. "Ain't like we got any pressin' matters that need tendin' to. Got a trial in a week 'er somethin'?" he mocked.

Andrea pinched his thigh. "Shut up. I'm just saying, it's a ways out."

Daryl kicked Nellie in the side again and brought them into an easy trot to cross the field. Had either of them looked back, they would have seen Dale standing on top of the RV in his usual post, watching them through his binoculars.


End file.
